Canonbury Tower

Canonbury Tower

Brian Micklethwait posted a picture of Canonbury Tower and notes that the building dates from the 1500's. It doesn't look that old. It looks like it could have been built anytime in the last century. I mean, did they even have bricks back in the 1500's? Turns out that, yes, they did. Seems bricks have been a standard building material for over 6,000 years. We're talking about fired bricks here, not sun dried mud bricks (adobe) that have been used ever since there have been people.

The other surprising thing is how much detail Google Maps can show. The above image is a screen shot of a 3-D view. Follow the link to Google Maps, press the control key, and click & drag any point on the screen with your mouse, and the whole image comes alive in three dimensions. I am astounded at how they are able to capture the three dimensional shape of the building, especially since (I surmise) that they are doing it all from satellite images and not from architects plans.